Museo Glauco Lombardi

The Glauco Lombardi Museum preserves objects and documents from the court of Maria Luigia, duchess of Parma from 1816 to 1847. Collector Glauco Lombardi assembled these materials in the historic Palazzo di Riserva.

Why it matters

Maria Luigia d'Asburgo, Napoleon's second wife and duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla from 1816, shaped the city's post-Napoleonic history. Collector Glauco Lombardi spent decades recovering artistic and documentary material from the Bourbon and Maria Luigia periods. His collection preserves a portrait of the duchess's court and of the citizen-scholar who documented Parma's ducal heritage.

What to notice

The museum's rooms trace ducal life through the Salone delle Feste, Sala Dorata, Sala Toschi, Sala Acquerelli, Sala Francesi, Sala Petitot, Sala Affetti and Sala Maria Luigia. In 1934 Lombardi acquired objects that had belonged to the duchess from Count Giovanni Sanvitale, a descendant of her daughter Albertina Montenuovo. The collection includes the ducal fortepiano, watercolours and documents associated with the court.

Context and history

From 1915 to 1943, the collection's nucleus was installed in rooms of the Reggia di Colorno, which Lombardi had helped rescue from abandonment. In 1961 the museum opened in Parma's Palazzo di Riserva. In 1971 it became the Fondazione Museo Glauco Lombardi under the Comune di Parma, and in 2002 Fondazione Monteparma became its sole supporting body. A 1997–1999 restoration updated the building while retaining Lombardi's original display criteria. Former ground-floor storerooms became temporary exhibition spaces in 2012.